Coalition Responds to Secretary Paulson's "Financial Blueprint"
Responding to the Treasury Departments recent release of its financial blueprint for regulatory reform, Greg Wren, Executive Director of the Coalition Opposed to a Federal Insurance Regulator (COFIR), stated, “The U.S. insurance industry remains vibrant and robust as insurance companies, both foreign and domestic, introduce innovative insurance products through streamlined state regulatory structures designed to provide insurance and financial services products necessary to meet the dynamic needs of U.S. consumers.”
The Department of the Treasury’s “Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulator Structure” supports federal legislation known as optional federal charter (OFC) which would create an Office of National Insurance (ONI) within Treasury to build a federal insurance regulatory regime for insurers which opt for a federal insurance charter. Treasury Secretary Paulson believes the Office of National Insurance would not only regulate federally chartered insurers, but "should also include authority to license and oversee insurers which are state chartered."
In response, COFIR Executive Director Greg Wren stated, “Members of the U.S. Senate and House, governors, state legislators, attorneys general, and most importantly, American consumers, should be concerned over this statement which conjures up the ‘slippery slope’ of ultimate federal intervention against state charted insurers.” “COFIR opposes the creatio of a federal insurance regulator through an optional federal charter, and will actively engage in supporting legislative efforts to modernize our state-based system through targeted insurance reforms necessary for protecting consumers and enhancing the market-place opportunities for the insurance industry,” Wren stated.
The insurance industry is sharply divided on the issue of a federal insurance regulator. Proponents would lead you to believe that the industry comes as a united front when, in fact, many associations and companies—and a clear majority of consumers – do not agree with efforts to create a massive new federal bureaucracy far removed from the states and from consumers. COFIR has surveyed over 400,000 American households in 196 Congressional Districts with state-by-state and national results indicating an overwhelming opposition to a federal insurance regulator proposed under optional federal charter legislation. An OFC will be ‘optional’ for insurance companies but not for U.S. consumers.
The Coalition Opposed to a Federal Insurance Regulator is a fast-growing coalition of insurance companies and trade associations which oppose federal efforts to create a dual, bifurcated system of state and federal insurance laws and regulations.
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